Basic Trope: A superhero or supervillain with a gimmick centering around an aspect of pop culture that was popular at a certain time but looks ridiculous once the fad wears off.
- Straight: Skateboard Man fights crime with a motorized skateboard. He was popular in The '90s. Now, not so much.
- Exaggerated: Hula Hoop Man is a beatnik superhero who uses a toy that was popular in The '50s as a weapon. This character shows up in modern day.
- Downplayed:
- Tropeman is a superhero with many different powers and weapons. He was introduced in the 90's, and originally rode around on a motorized skateboard. Once the skateboard fad ended, he simply dropped the board and no one noticed.
- Skateboard Man's popularity comes and goes based on how popular skateboards are at any given time.
- Justified:
- The character is a time-traveler and is unknowingly using a fad from another period.
- The character wants to appeal to the younger members of the public so he incorporates a fad into his superhero identity.
- He is a villain who wants to look ridiculous so no one will take him seriously, making it all the easier to commit crimes with no one realizing just how dangerous he really is.
- Skateboard Man is a professional skateboarder who can manuevre on a motorized board so he's still effective.
- The 'toy' in question was banned as such in 1963 due to its potential as a weapon. note
- Inverted: Timeless Man manages to have weapons, powers, and a costume that stays relevent throughout the ages.
- Subverted: Jetpack Man is popular partly because jetpacks are not common enough to be a fad...
- Double Subverted: Fast forward a few decades and Technology Marches On. Every kid on the block has a jetpack, making Jetpack Man look silly.
- Parodied: Skateboard Man shows up with Totally Radical slang and wears horrible 90's clothes (in a comic published in the 2010s) as an obvious Affectionate Parody of the times.
- Zig Zagged: Hover Man flies around on hover-boots that don't actually exist. A fan of the comic eventually builds them and they become popular with the kids and the character gets even more famous. As the fad wears off, Hover Man is seen as lame, so the writers take away the boots and give him another means of hovering.
- Averted: Skateboard Man remains popular even though skateboards aren't as common.
- Enforced: The writers know skateboards are popular so they design a superhero around them to make sales.
- Lampshaded:
- "Sure, skateboards are popular now, but do you have any idea how dumb you'll look in ten years?"
- "You expect me to take you seriously while you're riding around the city on a skateboard?"
- Invoked: Skateboard Man wants to endear himself with the public, so he chooses a skateboard motif.
- Exploited: Skateboard Man owns a skateboard shop and is hoping to increase the number of customers with his new superhero identity.
- Defied: While Hover Man is a professional skateboarder in his Secret Identity, he designs a hoverboard (which is similar but can be taken seriously) and uses that to fight crime.
- Discussed: Characters discuss how cool they think Skateboard Man is due to his skateboard.
- Conversed: "So, this is the famous Skateboard Man comic?" "Well, he was famous."
- Deconstructed: Skateboard Man realizes that skateboards are not as popular anymore and drops the gimmick.
- Reconstructed: And once he fails to capture a criminal because his Cool Bike could not fit in narrow passageways, he picks up the board again.
- Played For Laughs:
- When Skateboard Man shows up, people laugh at him and tell him the fad is over.
- Bob and Alice pick up a comic from the 90's and laugh once they come across an issue of Skateboard Man.
- Played For Drama: The Crimson Yo-Yo is a Fish out of Temporal Water and holds onto his identity as the only thing left of his past life.
Lose the hula hoop and go back to Fad Super.
